Whitman graduated several key players but returns two starters — Maddie Cannon and Avery Witt — and will contend again this season after reaching the state tournament for the first time since 2007.

Twelfth-year coach Pete Kenah said Whitman has a chance to repeat this season.

“There's not the one, dominant heavyweight team out there,” Kenah said.

The parity is new to the region. Gaithersburg was the regional and state champions in 2011 and 2012, winning 53 consecutive games.

The winning streak ended early last season, but the Trojans still made it to the region finals where they lost, 46-31, to Whitman.

Gaithersburg coach Adrian McDaniel, entering his seventh season, said the team will need to develop chemistry if it wants to take back the title.

“Whoever is peaking at the right time during the playoffs is the team that's going to succeed,” McDaniel said.

Blair could make its first state tournament since 1997 if it wins the region. Adarkwa, a four-year varsity player, said she wants to end her senior season on a high note.

“As a senior, I don't want to leave with any feeling that we could have done better … I just want to push others and push our teammates to realize our full potential and go as far as we possibly can,” Adarkwa said.